Trolley conveyer



March 31,1953 .D. M. KING 2,633,088

TROLLLEY CONVEYER Filed'Oct. 18, 1950 i" Draw/11v Patented Mar. 31 H 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,633,088 mommy cofiviiiiiiit Danna Mayer King,- iiit'e'tin, England Application October is, 1950, Serial Noa190z-749 In Great Britain October 20," .1949 '3 Claims. (01. 105 155) 1 iiwentiofirelats w suspended or e erhad conveycrs of the kind which inclii'd'e a fixed overhead track for supporting a plurality or trolleys Or the like which are ad pted to trailel over the said track, the trolleys, from which the loads to be conveyed are suspended, being propelled manuau orthrough the medium of a Chain or similar flexible element to which a drive is imparted in any convenient manner. A

It is the chief object of the invention to evolve an improvedtrolley farts; in a conveyor of the kind setforth. v

According to the invention the trolley is made up of pressed steel or other suitable metal plates and includes a plurality of wheels or rollers adapted to upport said trolley when placed in position on the fixed overhead track, means also being incorporated adapted to co-operate with said track in such a manner as to take up any lateral thrust imparted to the trolley and thereby to maintain the same in position on the track. In order that the inven'tioh may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure l is a sectiori o'n the line ll of Figure 2, gure 2 is a side elevatio'rial View or a trolley, Figure 3 is a perspective View bf a detail. The trolley illustrated in the drawings is adapted to be propelled along anoyerhead ru'nway or track comprising two rail members dis posed in parallel relationship, said trolley being adapted to support a load bar which projects downwardly therefrom between the rail members and to which a load may be attached. While the trolley may be propelled manually along the track it will more often be driven therealong' by means of a pusher dog or abutment which is carried by a driven chain loated above the path of movement or said trolley, said pusher dog or abutment being adapted to bear against the upper-part or the trolley.

Referring now" to the d'I'EiIWiI'lgs, I!) denotes an overhead track on" which 'th trolley 15 adapted plate [2 and two end plates [3 which are welded together. If desired the hood 1. 'e. the top plate and the end plates may be made in one piece. As will be seen from Figure 2 each plate is so formed at its upper part as toprovide a channel M of substantially inverted U-s'hape which chanfuel is adapted to house two wheels or rollers i5 arranged in tandem. Each wheel or roller i5 is rdtatamy mounted (in a spindle i6 suitably supported in the walls or theappropriate channel. The construction is such that the wheels or rollers IE will engage and run on the channelled members comprising the track It]. In the embodiment illustrated each spindle is, adjacent that end which is to constitute the outer end when in use, i formed with afi'attene'd or reduced portionso dimensioned that itwill constitute a sliding firm any one or the slots 2a in the outer walls of the channels it. The construction is such that when for example the righthand roller [5 of Figure 1 is to be mounted in position the spindle I6 is introduced through the central bore in said roller until the inner end thereof is flush or substantially flush with the left hand side or the roller whereupon the latter may be introduced into the channel I l so that the flattened portion or the spindle it which is projectin rom the right-hand sidecr Said roller Will re iste'r with the slot 2d. The roller and spindle 6j are inoyedupwardly (having reference to Figure 1') until the inner end of the spindle is' in alignment with an aperture in the inner wall of the channel it whereupon said spindle may then be pushed to the left to bring the head on the outer end thereof into Contact with the outer face of the outer wall of the channel. In thisposition a spring clip such as the clip 25 may readily be applied over the inner end of the spindle i 8 thereby to lock the same in place. In order to el'ltre the roller with respect to the channel It suitable washers 26 are located on the spindle l6 during assembly. It willbe appreciated that during mounting of removal of the toners the trolley will not be in" position on the track as shown.

As will be apparent from the drawings the plates II are so formed as to provide the trolley with a portion ii of decreased width which is adapted to project into the space between the channelled members comprising the track it. Mounted at each side of the depending portion ii of the trolley are two rollers 18 which are freely rotatable about vertical axes, the arrangement being such that-said rollers I8 will bear on the vertical webs of the chamielled members 3 forming the track thereby to take up any lateral or horizontal thrust on the trolley. Each roller I8 is rotatably mounted on a spindle l9 which is supported at its upper end in a lug or ear 2!! pressed out of the plate ll and at its lower designated generally by 2|, (shown separately in Figure 3) which is adapted to embrace the ends of the plates thereby to prevent any tendency to undesired relative movement therebetween and also to form guide means for the trolley.

As will be seen from the drawings each guide member 2| comprises upper and lower plates 21 which are arranged in spaced parallel relationship and are so shaped as to support a V or substantially V-shaped plate 28, the latter being welded to said plates 2?, The plates 21 are each formed with a recess 29, the arrangement being such that on application of a guide memher to a trolley the portions 30 of said plates will embrace the ends of the lower portions of the plates II, said portions 30 being formed with apertures 3| adapted to accommodate the aforesaid spindles I9. As indicated above, the guide members 2| will serve to prevent any tendency to undesired relative movement between the plates II and also by virtue of their V-shaped profile they will serve to guide the trolley when the latter is negotiating a bend or curve in the track or a track switch point.

Disposed between those portions of the side plates H which together constitute the depending portion of the trolley is a load bar or equivalent device 22 which latter is adapted to project downwardly below the trolley and is so formed as to allow of the attachment of loads thereto. The load bar or the like is pivotally mounted at its upper part on a transverse pin or the like 23 carried by the two side plates H. In the embodiment illustrated the load bar is located centrally or substantially centrally with respect to the length of the trolley, the pin 23 being located midway between the axes of rotation of the forward and rearward pairs of wheels or rollers 15.

The dimensions and actual formation of the pressed steel side plates may be varied as required and, if desired, each trolley may be provided with any desired number of pairs of wheels or rollers adapted to engage the overhead conveyor track. Similarly, instead of providing two vertical rollers at each side of the depending portion of the trolley to take up lateral thrust it may be desirable to incorporate one, three or any other desired number or to provide a series of balls or other equivalent devices.

I claim:

1. A trolley for a conveyor system such trolley comprising two pressed metal plates of similar formation which are arranged back to back and are maintained in spaced parallel relationship to provide a body having two upper side wall portions and two lower side wall portions which are inset in relation to said upper side wall portions, each of said upper side wall portions being bent over outwardly at its upper part to provide an inverted channel section extending longitudinally thereof, a set of wheels rotatably mounted in each of said channelled sections to engage and run on a track comprising two parallel rail members between which latter said lower wall portions of said trolley are adapted to project, and rollers mounted at opposite sides of said lower wall portions to rotate about axes at right angles to the axes of the aforesaid wheels in such a manner as to engage vertical surfaces on the rail members of the track and thereby to take up any lateral thrust that may be imparted to the trolley when in use.

2. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, and including a sheet metal hood which is adapted to bridge the space between the upper side wall portions of the trolley and to be secured by end plates to said portions thereby to maintain the metal plates forming the body of said trolley in spaced parallel relationship.

3. A trolley for a conveyor system, such trolley comprising two pressed metal plates of similar formation which'are arranged back to back and are maintained in spaced parallel relationship to provide a body having two upper side wall portions and two lower side wall portions which are inset in relation to said upper side wall portions, each of said upper side wall portions being bent over outwardly at its upper part to provide an inverted channel section extending longitudinally thereof, a set of wheels rotatably mounted in each of said channelled sections to engage and run on a track comprising two parallel rail members between which latter said lower wall portions of said trolley are adapted to project, rollers mounted at opposite sides of said lower wall portions to rotate freely about axes at right angles to the axes of the aforesaid wheels thereby to bear on vertical surfaces on the rail members, and guide members adapted to be applied at the opposite ends of the lower side wall portions, said members being so shaped as to embrace said latter portions, thereby to prevent relative lateral movement between them and also to serve as guide means for the trolley.

DONALD MAYER KING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 426,885 Walling Apr. 29, 1890 452,791 Jackman May 26, 1891 1,443,382 Rapier Jan. 30, 1923 1,480,232 Trimble Jan. 8, 1924 1,876,904 Francis Sept. 13, 1932 2,494,009 Sharp Jan. 10, 1950 

